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on
account of its hardness. Quartz, one of the most abundant minerals of
the earth's crust, though it has the qualities of hardness and luster
suitable for a gem, can be used only in small quantity comparatively
for gem purposes, since only few pieces have the desirable color and
transparency.
The
selection of stones which bear the qualities above mentioned for
purposes of possession and ornament seems to be a taste as old as the
human race itself. In the oldest Egyptian tombs are to be found
necklaces containing emeralds, garnets, carnelians, and other precious
stones. The history of many gems of India dates from a period so remote
as to be indeterminate. The desire to obtain amber led the Phoenicians
to make some of their earliest and longest voyages. Gems were wrought
into the earliest ritual of the Hebrews, and allusions to them are
frequent throughout their Scriptures. The ancient Arabs were familiar
with many of the gems used at the present day, and ascribed to them
special qualities. The Persian turquois mines are known to have been
worked as far back as 1300 A. D., and probably much earlier. There is
frequent mention of gems by Greek writers, and the Romans, especially
in the later days of the Empire, seem to have had great fondness for
jewels, and to have sought them eagerly in their conquests. They used
them in great variety and abundance, and carried the art of cutting and
engraving them to a high degree of perfection.
Moreover,
gems are wrought into the history and literature of nearly all peoples,
and furnish standards of color, hardness, luster, etc., which pass
current the world over. Such terms as the "emerald meadow," "turquois
sky," "adamantine hardness," etc., are derived from the use of gems,
and have universal significance. Advances in civilization seem to
increase rather than diminish the number of minerals used as gems, the
number now employed being larger than ever before in the world's
history.
While
it is true that the qualities which have been prized in gems, and the
relative esteem in which they have been held, seem to have been much
the same in all ages, the fashion in gems may vary from time to time,
so that now one stone and now another may take on temporarily a higher
value. Yet, on the whole, their worth varies little among different
peoples and at different times. The principal exception to this rule is
found in the valuation of jade by the Chinese, for they esteem this
above all other precious stones. Aside from a few such exceptions, gems
pass current in nearly all countries at about the same value. They
hence afford to a certain extent a medium of exchange, and are often
made objects of investment, because they are small, portable, and have
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